T-Mobile scored another U.S. exclusive on a OnePlus phone with the upcoming May 14th launch of the OnePlus 7 Pro, and its customers will have the very first chance to buy the device out of anybody in the world.
The first launch event for the phone will be at T-Mobile’s flagship Times Square store on May 14th. The next day, there will be smaller events in Chicago, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco and Santa Monica. Finally, on May 17th, the phone will become available online for all T-Mobile customers, and will begin shipping out to all T-Mobile stores for demo units and inventory. If you can’t make it to a launch event and want to see what all the fuss is about, T-Mobile will be live streaming this one for your viewing pleasure.
T-Mobile’s first launch event in New York will be happening right after OnePlus officially unveils the device at Pier 94. The Un-Carrier is offering limited-edition OnePlus swag to everybody who shows up, along with complimentary food and beverages. The first 200 people to buy a OnePlus 7 Pro at each launch event, however, will also get an exclusive mystery gift directly from OnePlus. With six events, that means that whatever this mystery gift is, it seems that only 1,200 of them in total will ever be made.
The OnePlus 7 Pro is set to be a unique device in that it will be the very first mainstream, carrier-supported smartphone in the US, and many other markets, to utilize a pop-up selfie camera in order to achieve a tiny bezel with no notch. Its array of back cameras is also expected to be quite stellar, with true 3x optical zoom supposedly on board.
In other specs, the device sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor paired with one of three RAM and storage configurations, going all the way up to 256GB of fast UFS 3.0 storage and 8GB of RAM. The phone also has a massive 4,000mAh battery, or even larger, according to some sources, that may come with 30W Warp Charge functionality. Finally, there’s a 6.67-inch QHD+ display that supports HDR10+ content.
Details such as pricing and what variants will be available on T-Mobile have yet to be revealed. Since T-Mobile is making such a big deal about the phone, it’s quite likely that the Un-Carrier is going to offer either multiple variants, or simply offer up the most high-end variant. That one has a price point of about $799, according to rumors. For the specs and features this device carries, that relatively high price will still fall well short of contemporaries like the Samsung Galaxy S10+.
T-Mobile carries the OnePlus 6T at present, and seems to have established a good working relationship with OnePlus. While being exclusive to a single carrier for an entire country’s mobile market may seem limiting for OnePlus, inking a deal with one of the four major carriers is a great way to make a major break into a market that’s previously only been available to the company via passionate buyers who are willing to pay full price on the spot for an unlocked device, and not have a chance to actually see it in person before laying out their cash.